Welcome to the National Early Language and Communication (NELC) Project
We support collaboration across services to strengthen early speech, language and communication (SLC) development from pre-birth, helping improve outcomes for all children in Scotland and reduce the poverty-related gap in SLC concerns.
NELC Home Page
Introduction
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The National Early Language and Communication (NELC) project is funded by Scottish Government and hosted within Public Services Delivery Scotland.
The project aims to increase collaboration and multi-agency working with a focus on prevention of speech, language and communication (SLC) needs from pre-birth. The vision is to improve support for all children in Scotland to promote early SLC development, ultimately resulting in improved outcomes and a reduction of the poverty related gap in SLC concerns.
The NELC project has been a catalyst for the development of a National Early Years SLC Action Plan. The team has worked alongside Scottish Government to shape the content and structure of the plan which was launched in December 2025.
You can access the complete version of the action plan, or view and download a quick “at a glance” version.
